Who is your target market?

I

imported_hockeyplaya13

New member
This summer I plan to set up my own mobile detailing business, and once I start to get enough clients I'll get my business license and insurance and everything. I'm in school until the first week of May and so won't be able to really start until then, but I'm using this next month to get everything planned out and to set up a business model and everything.



So, first off I need to figure out my target audience, since that will determine how I market myself, what my website is like, what my packages will look like, etc... As of right now, I have two very different audiences I'd like to target: 1) car enthusiasts, 2) top level business professionals.



I'm wondering who your target markets are. I know it varies with geography and the income level in your area and all that, but I'd still like to see who makes up the bulk of your work, just to make sure I'm not forgetting anything.
 
people with money who want to spend it on a detail...whether they make 100K a year or 30K a year....doesnt matter!



so basically car enthusiasts
 
I recommend when starting up, build up as much knowledge as possible, and pick your products well. Start with a lower price, and get some volume going, do your best on every car and you will get referral business. It takes time.





John
 
I cringe whenever someone tries to pigeonhole their target market. I know that all the business classes and books say to do it. I have read them too. I too would love to exclusively be doing $50k+ cars that have been well maintained, but that is not the reality.



The minivan that you clean the french fries and vomit out of one week can lead to the Mercedes that you enjoy doing the next week. (you have not detailed a car until you have detailed a minivan with both blood and vomit stains.) And that Mercedes can lead you to a Ferrari, and that can lead to three more minivans. Almost everyone works. Almost everyone has family, friends, and kids. Just because a guy is driving a Prius does not mean that he doesn't have money, and a collection of cars in a 5 car garage.



Never make assumptions about your customers. Even if they look like they can't even afford a wash and wax, treat them like they are the only customer in the world when it is time to talk to them about their car. Word of mouth will be your most powerful marketing tool.



/end speech
 
I take anyone and everyone. Even it's a little kid with a radio flyer wagon. I'll dump out the dirt, wax that crap and take his ice cream money. There's never a job that's below any detailer and never a dollar that's too wrinkled to be made.
 
JohnKleven said:
I recommend when starting up, build up as much knowledge as possible, and pick your products well. Start with a lower price, and get some volume going, do your best on every car and you will get referral business. It takes time.





John
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OK, I'm definitely still trying to gain more knowledge and experience. I've got loads of of practice on my/friends'/family members' cars, and have frequented here for the past couple years, so I'm definitely not a newb, but I know I still have a TON to learn. Fortunately I already have a pretty good arsenal of products and have tried some different stuff to see what I like. And thanks for the tip on price. That's a whole other discussion lol.



cjf_351 said:
I cringe whenever someone tries to pigeonhole their target market. I know that all the business classes and books say to do it. I have read them too. I too would love to exclusively be doing $50k+ cars that have been well maintained, but that is not the reality.



The minivan that you clean the french fries and vomit out of one week can lead to the Mercedes that you enjoy doing the next week. (you have not detailed a car until you have detailed a minivan with both blood and vomit stains.) And that Mercedes can lead you to a Ferrari, and that can lead to three more minivans. Almost everyone works. Almost everyone has family, friends, and kids. Just because a guy is driving a Prius does not mean that he doesn't have money, and a collection of cars in a 5 car garage.



Never make assumptions about your customers. Even if they look like they can't even afford a wash and wax, treat them like they are the only customer in the world when it is time to talk to them about their car. Word of mouth will be your most powerful marketing tool.



/end speech
Click to expand...



OK, thanks for the advice, it has been noted. I don't want to seem like I'm "pidgeonholing" my target market, or like I'm going to exclude anyone. From what I've learned on this and other forums is that word of mouth is going to be the biggest advertising tool, but for the little marketing I can do (my website, business cards, slogan/business name), I need to come up with who my main market will be. But I'm definitely going after anyone and everyone.



rcrobbins said:
I take anyone and everyone. Even it's a little kid with a radio flyer wagon. I'll dump out the dirt, wax that crap and take his ice cream money. There's never a job that's below any detailer and never a dollar that's too wrinkled to be made.
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Yea, don't get me wrong, it's not like I'm saying I'm only going to go after one market segment. I'm going to try to get everyone's business. But for my own organizational purposes and planning, I'd like to be able to kind of segment them all off. Soccer moms have different needs than lawyers/accountants, who have different needs than someone trying to sell a car, who has different needs than an auto enthusiast/car collector...and they all need to be approached differently and marketed to differently. So I want to see who you all would say makes up the bulk of your work? What do they do? Or, you could even list what you think all the different segments are. I'm just trying to categorize people as best I can.



I really appreciate the feedback so far! It has all been duly noted.
 
rcrobbins said:
I take anyone and everyone. Even it's a little kid with a radio flyer wagon. I'll dump out the dirt, wax that crap and take his ice cream money. There's never a job that's below any detailer and never a dollar that's too wrinkled to be made.
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LOL right on man.



i recently did a car for a customer and he asked me to "detail" his kids car seats. so i said what the heck, i was waiting for my partner to finish the interior any way. i just washed the seats with PW and got all the little crap off. he was so happy i did that with out complaint he called his brother while we were there and said i'm sending you the best detailer i have ever had work on my car. long story short, today i did his brother navigator, next week is his 58 renault and classic white on white jag.



point i'm trying to make is the same as rcrobbins, money is money, it all spends the same
 
I was thinking about this a bit last night as I was starting to fall asleep, and it occurred to me that even though we should never shy away from a detail job, we always market ourselves as the high end. Because we are. If someone wants the dirt off their car, they go to the corner car wash. If they are the diy type, they will do it themselves when they have the time. And we are here to fix what they screw up. So as far as your marketing goes, I would say shoot high. Look like the true professional.



Ours is not usually a service that someone buys on impulse. There is a reason people seek out our services. (that is not to say that people can not be sold on our services once they see what we do) Therefore, when people Do seek us out, we should be looking our best. Whether it is in our advertising, our uniform, or our manner of speaking.



That being said, please let us know what you plan on doing for advertising. Not so we can tear it apart, but because maybe you have an idea that we may not have thought of yet.;)
 
My target market is; people who truly care about the appearance of their cars, and are willing and able to pay a premium for a detailing service. I might also ad, people who are too busy to do it themselves. In most cases that means individuals with nice cars who make pretty decent money. While I usually do not turn down work, you really do not want the trashed mini-van type vehicles. Most of the time they will not call again anytime soon. BTW, if you are serious about doing this, and want to set yourself apart from the crowd, get a license and insurance first.
 
brwill2005 said:
My target market is; people who truly care about the appearance of their cars, and are willing and able to pay a premium for a detailing service. I might also ad, people who are too busy to do it themselves. In most cases that means individuals with nice cars who make pretty decent money. While I usually do not turn down work, you really do not want the trashed mini-van type vehicles. Most of the time they will not call again anytime soon. BTW, if you are serious about doing this, and want to set yourself apart from the crowd, get a license and insurance first.
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OK, but who are these people that are "willing and able to pay a premium for a detailing service?" Obviously they have to have a decent job to get the "able to pay" part down, but what about the "willing to" part? There has to be a reason they want it done. I figure for car enthusiasts, whether they be collectors or just are car geeks, their willingness to pay will come from their desire to see something the really care about being brought to perfect condition and looking its absolute best. For business professionals such as lawyers/accountants/other professions that have clients they need to impress, their professional image is very important to them. They may not care about the car very much or be interested in having a flawless finish, but if it will make them look more professional and contribute to impressing their clients, it may make them willing to pay. Or even high-up business management or whatever. But what other groups might there be? Who are all of the people that are "willing and able to pay?"



And as for the business license, I don't think I'm going to get it before I start, because I want to get started picking up some clients ASAP, and build a website, get a "uniform" maybe some advertising for my truck, etc. But I plan to get the business license and insurance as soon as I have more than a handful of customers. I mean I'm thinking I'll start doing detailing work during the second week of May and have my business license by no later than mid-June. It's not something I'm going to put off.



Thanks again for the input! Keep it coming :)
 
This is an extremely good thread... Thanks for asking this question. I have been contending with this in my head as I'm trying to get things off the ground.
 
Basically, people who understand the value in a service such as auto detailing. Whether it be the better quality, or the convenience of the service. You must understand that auto detailing is a niche market. It is not easy to define exactly who the target market is. If I go through my database of 300 or so clients, the things that stand out are high incomes and nice cars. Unfortunately, this industry also suffers from a bad overall reputation and low awareness. By starting off professional, with a license, insurance, and a quality brand, you are already ahead of the game. This will help you to distinguish yourself from every other fly by night operation in a beat up old van.
 
That is SO true. It requires almost no effort whatsoever to screw up a car. There is a guy that lives down the street from me that has a decent black GM pickup that he loves. Someone ran a buffer over it and now it waves hello and goodbye. He was potentially someones repeat customer. Now he is afraid to let anyone touch his truck.



I am days away from bringing my advertising live and going full time. But I won't do it until my insurance is squared away and I feel confident that I will not look like a fly by night wax hack.



That and my carpet extractor is on back order. :cry:



Back to the target market though. I think that brwill2005 has great points. Generally speaking, our customers will be of above average income, and will be automotive enthusiasts with more money than time. If I we are trying to narrow it down as much as we can, I think that is the most concise way to say it.
 
some very good information in this thread . . . . . so how are you folks reaching all these people? What are your main forms of attracting customers besides referrals as that is a given . . . . .



Flyers?

Business Cards?

Website?



Mass Mail Outs?
 
Internet; Google organic search, Adwords, Yahoo Sponsored search, Yahoo Directory, forums, FB, Twitter, etc.

Phonebook; Yes people still use it, especially older folks.

Direct Mail; Coupons, post cards.
 
brwill2005 said:
Internet; Google organic search, Adwords, Yahoo Sponsored search, Yahoo Directory, forums, FB, Twitter, etc.

Phonebook; Yes people still use it, especially older folks.

Direct Mail; Coupons, post cards.
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nice . . . . . i did the yellow page thing . . . . was the worst $2,500 i ever spent. I didn't even make 1/4 of it back from my investment in that.
 
my target market is same nation as me. But the way to do it is do the best EVERY EVERY CAR AND LITTLE SPOT YOU DO! tHIS IS BUSINESS AND YOU HAVE TO BE COMPETITIVE OR ELSE MORE COMPETITITIVE GUY WILL GET you in trouble. always look how to increase you busienss
 
vtec92civic said:
nice . . . . . i did the yellow page thing . . . . was the worst $2,500 i ever spent. I didn't even make 1/4 of it back from my investment in that.
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I have had the best response from the Community Phone Book, which targets smaller areas, rather than whole cities. Currently, there are very few detail companies advertising, and my ad is the biggest.
 
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